Please use this sub-forum to discuss any non-fiction books such as autobiographies or political commentary books.

Forum rules
You must limit each topic thread in this section to only one book or only one series. Make the title of the topic the name of the book, and if possible also include the author's name. If you want to allow spoilers, you must include the word spoilers in the title of the topic, otherwise spoilers are prohibited.

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Daniel's Secret" by JW Farquhar.]

4 out of 4 stars
Share This Review

A few weeks ago I was in prayer, and I acknowledged something to God. “I don’t exactly know what you are. God is not a man, and your ways are not my ways. I have a general idea about you, but I’ll never fully understand you on my own. Only you can confirm the truth to me.”

Within days of that prayer, Daniel’s Secret by JW Farquhar caught my eye. The book’s description was vague but promised to reveal the secret meaning behind the biblical numbers of 666, 777, 40 and so on. Intrigued, I decided to read it. To be quite honest, I had no idea what to expect.

Daniel’s Secret is based on the concepts found in Farquhar’s theological dissertation. His ideas are condensed into a simpler narrative for Christian audiences, and the book is written like a script with scenes and dialogue. The principal characters are Daniel Veritas, a fictional version of the author, and (doubting) Thomas, a religious fundamentalist. Thomas is an adherent to traditional beliefs in the Trinity, salvation through Jesus Christ and the Bible as the inerrant word of God. Daniel is a biblical scholar with a unique perspective. Daniel and Thomas embark on a journey to Israel to inspect the tombstone of an unknown man. The inscription on the headstone implies that he was a prominent believer who died without knowing why he lived. Thomas contacted Daniel for answers because his church leaders didn’t understand the inscription. Daniel claims to know the truth about God’s creation, biblical numbers, and the true path to salvation. Daniel seeks to prove his ideas to Thomas; Thomas just hopes to avoid the dead man’s fate.

This book is not for the close-minded. It’s dizzying, complex and heavily philosophical. Daniel supplies a multitude of original interpretations of biblical truths you won’t find anywhere else. Even now, I haven’t fully absorbed everything the author presented yet. While I was reading, I often had to stop and re-read passages to understand how he came to his conclusions. Although Farquhar makes a valiant effort to simplify his dissertation, it still requires close reading.

I absolutely loved the author’s attention to Joseph, son of Jacob, patriarch of Israel. Joseph and Jesus are two of the reasons I’m now a Christian, but Joseph gets very little attention from average believers. The author’s revelations about Joseph are stunning to me. A year ago, God gave me a vision of Joseph in Egypt wearing a crown of thorns; that vision deeply perplexed me at the time. I discovered through research that Joseph parallels many aspects of Jesus, but this book took things even further. The author presents arguments, numerical patterns and biblical proof that Joseph is representative of the face of God. He even argues that, like Jesus, Joseph is God. The evidence here is strikingly convincing, especially seeing as it confirms my vision.

Some other revelations involve new ideas about the Trinity, the book of Genesis, and even scientific evolution. The conversation flows through an array of numbers, patterns, charts, and words. There is so much information packed into these pages it’s impossible to describe it all. Some of the author’s proofs are more convincing and constructed more clearly than others, but it’s undeniable to me that his research is sound.

Overall, I loved this book and found very little to complain about. Occasionally, Thomas and Daniel are both arrogant and irritating. Sometimes their interjections distract from the fantastic information presented by the author. The draft I read could also use another round of proofreading. There were punctuation errors quite frequently throughout the text, but they didn’t hinder my understanding and enjoyment. I rate this book a 4 out of 4 stars, and I recommend it to all believers and skeptics interested in ideas that will challenge, stimulate and inspire your faith.

I'm usually pretty reticent about reading spiritual books that claim to have "new" revelations, as I honestly believe that there are some things God may not want us to know just yet. Still, this has peaked my interest, so I just may check it out. Thanks for the very thorough review and warnings about the book's complexity.

This was definitely an interesting review. I am a Christian and just a few of the things that you said there were very controversial to me. I have been able to see that Joseph was a type of Christ for many years but him been a part of the Trinity is really a stretch way out of the ballpark for me.

This was definitely an interesting review. I am a Christian and just a few of the things that you said there were very controversial to me. I have been able to see that Joseph was a type of Christ for many years but him been a part of the Trinity is really a stretch way out of the ballpark for me.

Thank you!! Yeah, there’s definitely a lot of very interesting thoughts presented in this book. Like you, I’m not sure what to think about some of it. I think it’s fascinating to contemplate though and I’m in the process of asking God to confirm or deny parts of it. It’s kind of fun, actually, and there certainly seems to be a noticeable, repeating pattern throughout.